Mount Rushmore--Presidents: A Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Amy Bracewell for National Park Service Every year, the many visitors to Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota draw inspiration from the colossal portraits of four outstanding presidents of the United States: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Gutzon Borglum carved his gigantic Shrine of Democracy Sculpture into ancient granite high on the southeast face of Mount Rushmore “in commemoration of the foundation, preservation, and continental expansion of the United States.” The faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt are about 60 feet high, and the grouping extends approximately 185 feet along the crest of Mount Rushmore. Dark ponderosa pines and other evergreens set off the stark white sculpture. Added at the time of the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence in 1976, a flag-lined formal Avenue of Flags creates an impressive approach. In 1923, South Dakota State Historian Doane Robinson came up with an idea for attracting tourists to the State. Robinson envisioned shaping a cluster of tall thin granite peaks called the Needles into statues of explorers and Indian leaders.

The Needles stand where the Black Hills rise from the plains as a gateway to the Rocky Mountains and the West. In 1924, Robinson wrote sculptor Gutzon Borglum about his idea. Borglum telegraphed back his enthusiastic support. Avenue of Flags at Mount Rushmore National Memorial Amy Bracewell for National Park Service Born to a Danish American family on a homestead in Idaho in 1867, Gutzon Borglum made his name celebrating things American in a big way. In 1908, he created a large, 40 inches-high head of Abraham Lincoln. Representatives of the United Daughters of the Confederacy soon contacted him about creating a portrait head of Robert E. Lee on the side of Stone Mountain in Georgia. Convinced that the scale of the mountain would dwarf a single head, he convinced them to create a huge group portrait of General Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis. Borglum completed the head of Lee in 1924, but a dispute with the backers of the project soon led to his dismissal and the eventual removal of his work. His departure from Georgia made it possible for him to concentrate on Mount Rushmore.

Borglum scouted out a location far better than the fragile Needles: 5,725-foot Mount Rushmore. Its broad wall of exposed granite was more suitable for sculpture and received direct sunlight for most of the day. Borglum himself selected the presidents for the memorial, to reflect the nation’s first 150 years of history and to make the project a national, rather than regional one. Original plans included only George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Borglum picked George Washington the father of the new country because he was a leader in the American Revolution, the first president of the United States, and the man who laid the foundation of American democracy. Abraham Lincoln was selected for preserving the Union during the Civil War and abolishment of slavery. As the project progressed, Borglum added Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt. Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, began America’s westward expansion by purchasing the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, which doubled the size of the country, adding all or part of 15 present-day States.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States and extremely popular in the early 20th century, linked the east and the west through the construction of the Panama Canal and was famous as a “trust buster,” fighting large corporate monopolies and championing the working man. Initial planning and fund-raising began in August 1925. The project was almost out of money in 1927 before carving even began. Borglum and the planners succeeded in getting the support of President Coolidge when he was vacationing in the Black Hills. Coolidge dedicated the memorial in 1927. In the closing days of his term in office, he signed a bill approving matching funds. The Federal Government would eventually cover almost all of the almost million-dollar cost of construction. On October 4, 1927, the carving process began. Local gold miners carefully removed rock from the mountain using small charges of dynamite, leaving a three to six inch layer of granite. They used 75-pound jackhammers to remove the next layer and then the carvers took over. First, they drilled a series of shallow holes and then removed the area between them, often by hand.

Hand tools smoothed the stone and added small details, like wrinkles and moles. Four hundred people worked on the project. Frequently suspended because of bad weather and money problems, the work was dangerous, but miraculously there were no fatal accidents. During the Depression, it was welcome relief work for many, and for many others it came to be a labor of love. As “Red” Anderson said, "more and more we sensed that we were creating a truly great thing." Interpretive ranger program Mount Rushmore - U.S. Presidents - HISTORY.com Google The Birth of Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore, located just north of Custer State Park in South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest, was named for the New York lawyer Charles E. Rushmore, who traveled to the Black Hills in 1884 to inspect mining claims in the region. When Rushmore asked a local man the name of a nearby mountain, he reportedly replied that it never had a name before, but from now on would be known as Rushmore Peak (later Rushmore Mountain or Mount Rushmore). Did You Know? A bill introduced in Congress in 1937 proposed that a carving of Susan B.

Anthony's head be included among the luminaries at Mount Rushmore, but fell through due to a rider on the existing appropriations bill mandating that federal funds be spent only on those carvings already begun. Seeking to attract tourism to the Black Hills in the early 1920s, South Dakota’s state historian Doane Robinson came up with the idea to sculpt “the Needles” (several giant natural granite pillars) into the shape of historic heroes of the West. He suggested Red Cloud, a Sioux chief, as a potential subject. In August 1924, Robinson contacted Gutzon Borglum, an American sculptor of Danish descent who was then working on carving an image of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee into the face of Georgia’s Stone Mountain. Luckily for Robinson, the headstrong Borglum was on the outs with the group that had commissioned the Lee sculpture, and would soon abandon the project. Borglum suggested that the subjects of the South Dakota work be George Washington and Abraham Lincoln , as that would attract more national interest. He would later add Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt to the list, in recognition of their contributions to the birth of democracy and the growth of the United States.

Sculpting the Presidents at Mount Rushmore During a second visit to the Black Hills in August 1925, Borglum identified Mount Rushmore as the desired site of the sculpture. Even as local Native Americans and environmentalists voiced their opposition to the project, deeming it a desecration of the natural landscape, Robinson worked tirelessly to raise funding for the project, aided by Rapid City Mayor John Boland and Senator Peter Norbeck, among others. After President Calvin Coolidge traveled to the Black Hills for his summer vacation, the sculptor convinced the president to deliver an official dedication speech at Mount Rushmore on August 10, 1927; carving began that October. In 1929, during the last days of his presidency, Coolidge signed legislation appropriating $250,000 in federal funds for the Rushmore project and creating the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission to oversee its completion. Boland was made the president of the commission’s executive committee, though Robinson (to his immense disappointment) was excluded.

To carve the four presidential heads into the face of Mount Rushmore, Borglum utilized new methods involving dynamite and pneumatic hammers to blast through a large amount of rock quickly, in addition to the more traditional tools of drills and chisels. Some 400 workers removed around 450,000 tons of rock from Mount Rushmore, which still remains in a heap near the base of the mountain. Though it was arduous and dangerous work, no lives were lost during the completion of the carved heads. Mount Rushmore as a “Shrine of Democracy” On July 4, 1930, a dedication ceremony was held for the head of Washington . After workers found the stone in the original site to be too week, they moved Jefferson’s head from the right of Washington’s to the left; the head was dedicated in August 1936, in a ceremony attended by President Franklin D. Roosevelt . In September 1937, Lincoln’s head was dedicated, while the fourth and final head–that of FDR’s fifth cousin, Theodore Roosevelt–was dedicated in July 1939.

Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, and it was left to his son Lincoln to complete the final details of Mount Rushmore in time for its dedication ceremony on October 31 of that year. Mount Rushmore National Memorial, known as the “Shrine of Democracy,” has become one of the most iconic images of America and an international tourist attraction. In 1959 it was made even more famous as the scene of a climactic chase scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest.” (In fact, South Dakota did not allow filming on Mount Rushmore itself, and Hitchcock had a large-scale model of the mountain built in a Hollywood studio.) In 1991, Mount Rushmore celebrated its 50th anniversary after undergoing a $40 million restoration project. The National Park Service, which maintains Mount Rushmore, records upwards of 2 million visitors every year. Tags Mount Rushmore Presidents - Who is on Mount Rushmore? The face of George Washington was the first to be carved on Mount Rushmore. The Washington carving was officially dedicated on July 4, 1930.

An American flag measuring 39 feet by 67 feet was hand-sewn by a group of Rapid City women and wife of the sculptor, Mrs. Gutzon Borglum, for the dedication. The flag was later used to dedicate all the presidents of Mount Rushmore. GROWTH Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (1801-1809) Thomas Jefferson, our nation’s third president and one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, is credited with inspiring democracy and the western expansion of the country. In 1803 Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory (which included most of present-day South Dakota) from France for $15 million. The expansion doubled the size of our country, prompting Jefferson to send Lewis and Clark on their famed expedition to explore the new territory. After their return, settlers started moving west into the nation’s new frontier. Carving on Mount Rushmore of Thomas Jefferson’s face originally began on the opposite side of George Washington. Carvers realized 18 months into the carving that the granite was not suitable. Jefferson’s partially carved face was blasted off with dynamite and carving began anew on the other side of Washington, where we see it now.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the carving of Jefferson on August 30, 1936. DEVELOPMENT Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (1901-1909) Theodore Roosevelt was a fiery individualist who embodied American culture of the early 1900s and provided leadership during a time of rapid economic growth. His conservationism, willingness to take on big business and progressive policies set the stage for important reforms of the 20th century, leading many to characterize him as one of the nation’s greatest leaders. Deeply inspired by the Dakota Territory, Roosevelt is also the father of our National Park System, which protects valuable natural resources for generations of Americans to enjoy. The face of Roosevelt was the last to be carved on Mount Rushmore. The Roosevelt carving was dedicated on July 2, 1939. PRESERVATION Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States (1861-1865) Leading the country through some of its darkest years, Abraham Lincoln is considered by many scholars to be our nation’s greatest president.

He was instrumental in the abolishment of slavery and is credited with setting in motion the work to preserve the United States after the Civil War. On April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated while attending a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. He died on April 15th. The face of Abraham Lincoln on Mount Rushmore was officially dedicated on September 17, 1937. Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore By Jennifer Rosenberg Updated January 05, 2016. From 1927 to 1941, sculptor Gutzon Borglum and nearly 400 workers diligently carved the faces of four U.S. presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt) into the southeastern, granite side of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Completed on October 31, 1941, Mount Rushmore took 14 years to create, removed 450,000 tons of granite, and cost $989,992.32.

The Idea In 1924, the state of South Dakota was only 35 years old and still relatively unknown. To enliven interest in South Dakota and bring in tourists, state historian Doane Robinson proposed creating sculptures of western heroes out of the Black Hills rock formations known as the Needles. Robinson envisioned this outcropping of pillar-like rocks to be shaped into figures such as Sioux chief Red Cloud , Lewis and Clark , John C. Fremont , Sacagawea , and Buffalo Bill . While still in just the idea stage, Robinson, who is now known as the "Father of Mount Rushmore," wrote a letter on August 20, 1924 to sculptor Gutzon Borglum about the project. continue reading below our video 10 Best Universities in the United States The Sculptor Gutzon Borglum was a talented, energetic, strong-willed man. He began his artistic life as a painter, gaining accolades and patrons after painting a portrait of the intriguing and influential explorer and Civil War general, John C. Fremont. Borglum then went to Paris to study, where he met renown sculptor Auguste Rodin .

It was while in Paris that Borglum switched from painting to sculpture. Back again in the United States, Borglum made an impressive, large bust of President Abraham Lincoln that gained him national fame. The bust caught the eye of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, who then asked Borglum to carve the image of Confederate General Robert E. Lee into the side of Stone Mountain in Georgia. Borglum began work on the Stone Mountain project but after the strongly opinionated Borglum and the rest of the committee began to have serious disagreements about who was in charge, Borglum was asked to leave the project on February 5, 1925. Unwilling to allow another artist to use his design, Borglum destroyed the models he had designed of the Stone Mountain project. This absolutely infuriated the members of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, who then sent a posse after Borglum, chasing Borglum to the state line.1 Not surprisingly, Borglum was never asked to come back.

(The carving was later finished by other artists, but only after all of Borglum's work had been removed.) Leaving the Stone Mountain project left 58-year-old Borglum free to pursue Mount Rushmore. Finding the Mountain Delving into the Mount Rushmore project, Borglum quickly changed Robinson's idea from western figures to U.S. presidents, specifically George Washington and Abraham Lincoln , so that the project would have a wider, national appeal. Borglum made a rough sketch, showing the two men standing next to each other. In August 1925, Borglum made a trip to South Dakota with his son, Lincoln, to search for the right mountain. Having determined that the Needles were unsuitable for carving, Borglum was searching for something much larger. Having been guided through most of the Harney range on horseback, Borglum was taken to Mount Rushmore last. This was the mountain for his monumental project.

When Borglum saw the mountain for the first time in 1925, Mount Rushmore stood 6,000 feet above sea level, with a flat-topped, granite peak 1,000-feet long and 400-feet high. Importantly, Mount Rushmore had a southeastern face that would be naturally lit by the sun for most of the day. The only problem with Mount Rushmore was that it was buried deep in the wilderness, a mile-and-a-half from the nearest road.2 It would take a lot of money and effort just to make the site accessible to both workers and visitors. What Images to Carve? George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were easy choices for the monument. Borglum, who thought and dreamed big, decided to add two more figures. Wanting the completed Mount Rushmore project to be a "Shrine of Democracy," Borglum added Thomas Jefferson . The fourth figure, however, was more controversial. While Borglum wanted to add Teddy Roosevelt because he had built the Panama Canal and advocated for the conservation of America's natural lands, others advocated for Woodrow Wilson , the president that had led the United States through World War I and who had died the year before.

In the end, Borglum did as he wanted and made the fourth image Teddy Roosevelt. Getting Started Getting funding for the Mount Rushmore project was more difficult than first expected. Borglum, who had been confident that private investors would fund the project, was surprised to find that nearly none would. After two years of struggling to gather enough money to get the project started, the Mount Rushmore project was almost scrapped before it had begun. But then in 1927, Borglum got lucky. In 1927, U.S. President Calvin Coolidge decided to vacation in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Using this to his advantage, Borglum invited Coolidge to participate in a dedication ceremony for Mount Rushmore. Coolidge agreed. In preparation for the big event, Borglum used the $54,000 they had managed to acquire from private donors to get preparations underway.3 At the base of the mountain, the workmen built a studio for Borglum, quarters for the crew, a blacksmith's workshop, and a cookhouse. They also dug a well to provide water.

Three miles away, the workmen constructed a building in Keystone to house the 200-horsepower, diesel engine that would supply the electricity needed to power the air compressors (these powered the drills).4 Equipment was gathered, including jackhammers, air-compressed drills, chisels, bosun's chairs, and steel wires. On August 10, 1927, the dedication ceremony took place. Coolidge, wearing cowboy boots and a suit for the occasion, gave a short speech to the 1,700 visitors had come to witness the ceremony at Mount Rushmore. Coolidge stated: Here in the heart of the continent, on the side of a mountain which probably no white man had ever beheld in the day of Washington, in territory which was acquired by the action of Jefferson, which remained an unbroken wilderness beyond the days of Lincoln, which was especially beloved by Roosevelt, the people of the future will see history and art combined to portray the spirit of patriotism.5 With Coolidge's support, Mount Rushmore began receiving federal funding. Although slow and intermittent, the promise of federal funding was enough to get started.

Carving the Mountain Carving of Mount Rushmore began on October 4, 1927. Borglum had created a plaster model of the sculpture at a scale of 1:12, meaning one inch of the model correlated to twelve inches (one foot) of the mountain. The model, which had to be changed nine times during the 14-year project, showed the four presidents from the waist up.6 Work started first on George Washington. Workers would climb 760 steps to reach the top of the mountain (about 40 stories high) and then be lowered down the face of the mountain in a seemingly precarious bosun's chair , held only by a 3/8-inch steel cable, to get to work. To move from place to place, the workers signaled to a "callboy," who could call up to the men working the winches at the top of the mountain in order to adjust or move the men to a new location. A small cable car, working like a dumbwaiter, was also built to travel up and down the mountain to carry supplies. For most of the construction, this cableway was not intended for human transport.

Approximately 90% of the carving was done by carefully-placed dynamite, done by men known as "powder monkeys." When most of the granite was removed, work slowed as they began the "honeycomb" process of removing granite, which entailed boring holes just inches apart from each other and then chiseling in-between. To smooth out the surface, workers used a process called "bumping," which used a dallet hand facer to carefully ground the surface to look as smooth as skin. The Problem With Jefferson When Washington was nearly finished, the workers began carving Thomas Jefferson in June 1931 on the left side of Washington. However, the granite there proved too difficult to carve because of numerous veins of quartz. Having to make a very difficult decision, Borglum ordered the work on Jefferson to not only halt, but be blasted off in 1934. The workers then moved to the right of Washington to begin again on Jefferson. Lincoln's head was started in 1936 and then Roosevelt came next. Veins of quartz also plagued the work on Teddy Roosevelt's face. Borglum had to cut deep into the rock to find a spot of solid granite to shape for Roosevelt.

How Big Are the Faces on Mount Rushmore? Each of the four presidential faces are huge. At 60-feet tall, each of the heads are 83 times as large as a regular human head. At that size, a full-body statue would be taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza and almost reach the top of the Washington Monument in D.C. The nose of each statue alone is 20-feet long and each eye measures 11-feet wide. Teddy Roosevelt's mustache ranges 20-feet across and Abraham Lincoln's mole is 16-inches wide. Calling It Done Funding for the Mount Rushmore project was difficult to find even when it was started in 1925. When the Great Depression hit after the 1929 Stock Market Crash , funding became even scarcer and more sporadic. Each time the project ran out of money, all work had to stop. This meant that only 6 1/2 years of the 14 years it took to create Mount Rushmore were spent carving.7 In 1941, even the sporadic funding was to stop.

In February 1941, sculptor Gutzon Borglum went in for surgery. Unfortunately, just three weeks later, March 6, 1941, 73-year-old Borglum died. Borglum's son, Lincoln, who had been involved with the Mount Rushmore project from its inception, took over for his father and finished the project. Although the torsos of the four presidents had barely begun, Congress decided to consider the Mount Rushmore project complete. With the United States' entrance into World War II looming, Congress cut funding for Mount Rushmore. Carving ended on October 31, 1941, just 37 days before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered WWII. More Heads? Over the decades, there have been a number of recommendations to add more heads to Mount Rushmore, including the likeness of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan .8 Despite the suggestions, Congress has not yet given any funding for additional carving to be done at Mount Rushmore since work stopped in 1941. Notes 1.

Judith Janda Presnall, Mount Rushmore (San Diego: Lucent Books, 2000) 22. 2. Presnall, Mount Rushmore 25. 3. Presnall, Mount Rushmore 35. 4. Presnall, Mount Rushmore 36. 5. President Calvin Coolidge, "Speech Delivered on August 10, 1927," National Park Service (accessed November 29, 2015) 6. Presnall, Mount Rushmore 43. 7. Lynn Curlee, Rushmore (New York: Scholastic Press, 1999) 20. 8. Curlee, Rushmore 44. Mount Rushmore Presidents - The Black Hills Home » Black Hills » Mount Rushmore Presidents Mount Rushmore Presidents Published by blackhills On April 9, 2014 Mount Rushmore is an iconic mountain in South Dakota. There is no doubt that you have heard of the infamous mountain and seen several images of it, but it is breathtaking in real life.

Whether it is your first time visiting the mountain, or if you a repeat tourist, it will offer a unique experience with new memories to add to your life. So what exactly is Mount Rushmore? Mount Rushmore is a National Monument of four presidents’ faces that are carved into the granite mountain name Rushmore. The famous presidents you will see are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. History Behind the Mountain The mountain was thought up by Doane Robinson and carved by Guton Borglum and his son Lincoln with the intent to drive tourism into the city located far from any oceans. The whole memorial covers 1,278.45 acres , which is impressive considering the clarity of the faces from the distance of the observation area. In picking the mountain to use, Mount Rushmore was eventually chosen because of its granite material and the incredible sun exposure because it faces the southeast. Robinson and Borglum disagreed on what the monument would consist of but decided national faces would be a great memorial for the country as a whole. The entire idea was intended to be from the waist up and was started in 1927. However Guton passed away in 1941 leaving his son to finish the project.

Funding had dried up and the monument sculpting had to conclude almost 7 months after Guton’s death. Even with only half the idea completed the monument became a huge success and today attracts nearly three million people a year. The Four Famous Faces These four faces were not chosen at random, they each were specifically picked because of something specific that they did to influence our country. George Washington (1732-1799), led the colonists in the American Revolutionary War winning independence from Great Britain. He laid the foundation of our modern day democracy. He often thought to be the most important face in the mountain. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), authored the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence has become such an integral part of the American culture that every citizen knows what it is and likely knows a line from it. It also inspired several countries around the world the reform their democracy. Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), was an incredible President who was able to see potential growth in our country and account for it. With rapid growth in the Americas, he was able to lead the country, negotiate for expanded territory, and keep the country looking to a strong and stable future.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), was instrumental during his leadership through the Civil War. He preserved the union and held fast to the idea of freedom for all regardless of race. His leadership laid the foundation for the belief system we have today giving everyone equal rights and freedoms. If you haven’t visited Mount Rushmore it should be on your bucket list, and if you have you will want to come back and make new life long memories. Mount Rushmore - Fold3 Fold3 Add your story… Construction of Mount Rushmore Doane Robinson of the South Dakota Historical Society wanted a monument to be built in South Dakota in order to help the economy of the state by attracting tourism. In 1923, he proposed that this monument should be built from the granite cliffs in the Black Hills of South Dakota . Senator Peter Norbeck of South Dakota approved the proposal, and federal funds helped the project. Robinson asked architect and sculptor Gutzon Borglum to sculpt and design the monument. Borglum decided to use Mount Rushmore for the sculpture, since it seemed to be the easiest of the cliffs to work on.

[1] Gutzon Borglum, having decided on the location of the sculpture, decided to make this monument of four Presidents of the United States . He chose the two most famous Presidents in American history, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln . He chose Thomas Jefferson because Jefferson nearly doubled the size of the United States in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase (which included the land that became South Dakota). The last President Borglum chose was Theodore Roosevelt , suggested by President Calvin Coolidge (who insisted that at least there be two Republicans and at least one Democrat represented. [2] ) because of Theodore Roosevelt's introduction of the National Park Service . Borglum's original design was a sculpture of the four presidents intended to go down to their waists, but time and money only provided for their heads. [3] Ivan Houser, father of John Sherrill Houser , was assistant sculptor to Gutzon Borglum in the early years of carving; he began working with Borglum shortly after the inception of the monument and was with Borglum for a total of seven years. When Houser left Gutzon to devote his talents to his own work, Gutzon's son, Lincoln, became assistant sculptor.

A few hundred workers, who were usually miners , sculptors, or rock climbers, used dynamite , jackhammering , and chiseling to sculpt the model from the mountain. A stairway was constructed to the top of the mountain first and ropes fixed. Workers were supported by harnesses attached to the ropes. The irises of the eyes were sculpted as holes. A cube of granite was left in each to represent the reflection highlight thereby making the appearance of the eyes more realistic. Construction began on October 4, 1927. George Washington's head was started first. Due to the economic instability of the United States caused by the Great Depression, it was completed in seven years, and dedicated to the public on Independence Day 1934. A large American flag was placed over Washington's head before it was revealed, and this became a tradition for each of the Presidents' heads. Thomas Jefferson's head was started next, left of Washington. Before the head was complete, Borglum ordered that it be blasted off due to poor rock quality. Jefferson's head was started again to the right of Washington. Jefferson's head was dedicated in 1936.

Abraham Lincoln's head was more of a challenge because of his beard, but his head was completed on the far right of the cliff, dedicated on September 17, 1937, it took 2 days, the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States in 1787. While Theodore Roosevelt's head was being constructed, accommodations for tourists were being built, including plumbing, lighting, and a visitor center. Not finding suitable rock, the sculptors cut farther back into the mountain, causing concerns about how far they were cutting. On July 2, 1939, Roosevelt's head was dedicated. Due to unforeseen vulnerabilities in the granite, Lincoln and Jefferson were moved from the locations in Borglum's original design. Lincoln was relocated to the spot that Borglum had planned to include an 80 by 100 foot inscription in the shape of the Louisiana Purchase. To replace the inscription, Borglum conceived another grand addition to the monument of similar proportions: the Hall of Records.

The Hall of Records was to include a grand entrance to an 80 by 100 foot vault carved directly into the granite face of the small canyon behind Lincoln’s head. Borglum imagined 800 granite steps leading from his studio to the entrance of the Hall. In 1938 Borglum and his crew began to carve this grand hall, where he envisaged the original Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution should eventually be stored. But a combination of unexpectedly hard granite, looming war in Europe, and lack of funding conspired against Borglum’s last dream, though his plans became more elaborate as his team rushed to complete this work. They reached 70 feet into the granite by the time Borglum unexpectedly died in March 1941. The monument was deemed complete and all work shut down on October 31 of the same year. Though Borglum’s children tried over the years to renew interest in their father’s last dream, it was not until 1998 that the National Park System, together with the Borglum Family, put “finishing touches” on the Hall of Records.

A titanium vault was installed in the granite floor of the unfinished hall, and filled with sixteen porcelain enamel panels that include the United States Constitution and other important historical documents. The Hall of Records entrance can be seen from west-facing aerial photographs of the monument from Bing Maps Mount Rushmore National Monument Mount Rushmore National Monument By Timm on April 30, 2012 12:49 am in South Dakota Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore in southwestern South Dakota. The sculptures are 60-foot high heads of former United States presidents (from left to right): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial covers 1,278 acres and is over a mile above sea level. The Avenue of States (shown above) is a pedestrian walkway that leads from the concession area to the Grand View Terrace. Fourteen pillars line the avenue with a total of 56 flags: one for each state, district, commonwealth, and territory of the United States. Each flagpole has a plaque carved into the pillar that indicates when the state entered the Union.

Mount Rushmore was sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum, his son Lincoln Borglum, and over 400 workers from 1927 through 1941. The total cost was just under one million dollars of mostly federal funds and some private donations. South Dakota historian Doane Robinson conceived the idea of carving famous people into the Black Hills of South Dakota to promote tourism in the region. Gutzon Borglum chose the Mount Rushmore location because it’s the tallest mountain in the region, faces southeast for maximum sun exposure, and had an adequate amount of granite required to carve the large figures. Borglum also decided the sculpture should have a national focus, and he chose which four presidents would be carved into the mountain. George Washington (1732-1799) was our nation’s first president and served from 1789-1797. Washington earned the title as “Father of his Country.” As commander of the Continental Army, he formed and led a fighting force that won independence from Great Britain in 1775.

As President of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he helped form the world’s greatest democracy that has lasted for 235 years. Two years later, he was unanimously elected President of the United States and served two terms. When he was offered a third term and the title of King, Washington rejected it, thereby establishing an unwritten precedent of a maximum of two terms for a U.S. president that was eventually integrated into the Constitution with the 22nd Amendment. “It is but natural that such a design should begin with George Washington, for with him begins that which is truly characteristic of America. He represents our independence, our Constitution, our liberty. He formed the highest aspirations that were entertained by any people into the permanent institutions of our Government. He stands as the foremost disciple of ordered liberty, a statesman with an inspired vision who is not outranked by any mortal greatness.” ~President Calvin Coolidge, August 10, 1927 Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) was an American Founding Father and principal author of the Declaration of Independence. He was also our third President of the United States, serving from 1801-1809.

Yet Borglum chose him mostly because he had the foresight to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, more than doubling the size of our young republic and paving the way for the great western expansion. Jefferson had strong beliefs in the rights of man, a government derived from the people for the people, freedom of religion and separation of church and state, and education available to all. Jefferson’s head was initially carved to the left of Washington as you look at Mount Rushmore, but about halfway through it was determined there was not enough granite to complete the figure, so his face was literally blasted away with dynamite and moved to the right of Washington. Partway through carving Jefferson’s head in the new position, a large crack in the granite was found to be running through his nose. Borglum had to reset Jefferson’s head five degrees to the north, back four feet, and tilt the head about 18 inches. You can see the remains of the crack cutting down the right eye, past the nose and upper lip, and through the middle of the chin. “Next to (Washington) will come Thomas Jefferson, whose wisdom insured that the Government which Washington had formed should be entrusted to the administration of the people.

He emphasized the element of self-government which had been enshrined in American institutions in such a way as to demonstrate that it was practical and would be permanent. In him, likewise, embodied the spirit of expansion. Recognizing the destiny of this Country, he added to its territory. By removing the possibility of any powerful opposition from a neighboring state, he gave new guaranties to the rule of the people.” ~President Calvin Coolidge, August 10, 1927 Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) was the 26th President of the United States, serving from 1901-1909. Borglum chose Roosevelt because he influenced the construction of the Panama Canal and built a powerful U.S. Navy, both of which helped establish the United States as a world power. Roosevelt also engineered the peace treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War, for which he earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906. Closest to our hearts, Roosevelt was perhaps the greatest conservationist in the history of mankind.

Roosevelt preserved more than 234 million acres, created the National Forest Service, established 5 national parks, 18 national monuments, and 150 national forests. Roosevelt favored using America’s natural resources, but opposed wasteful consumption. Roosevelt was the most controversial of the four figures because it had only been a few decades since he had served and many felt his place in history was not yet determined. Borglum had personally known and admired Roosevelt and had done a bust of the President that was later used as a model for his Mount Rushmore figure. Roosevelt once said, “If a monument is ever put up of me, I hope Gutzon Borglum makes it.” The carving of Roosevelt was the most difficult, as 75 feet of overlying rock had to be blasted away before enough granite suitable for carving was found, which is why Roosevelt’s head seems to be set so far back from the other three. “That the principles for which these three men stood might be still more firmly established destiny raised up Theodore Roosevelt. To political freedom he strove to add economic freedom.

By building the Panama Canal he brought into closer relationship the east and the west and realized the vision that inspired Columbus in his search for a new passage to the Orient.” ~President Calvin Coolidge, August 10, 1927 Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Upon his election as President, seven states of the lower south seceded and formed the Confederate States of America. At his inauguration, Lincoln vowed to do whatever was necessary to preserve the Union. The Confederates responded by attacking Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, thus starting the Civil War. Lincoln called for Union troops to put down the rebellion. In 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation to free all slaves, thus raising the war to a higher moral plane. In 1965, Lincoln helped craft the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that abolished slavery.

“After our country had been established, enlarged from sea to sea, and was dedicated to popular government, the next great task was to demonstrate the permanency of our Union and to extend the principle of freedom to all inhabitants of our land. The master of this supreme accomplishment was Abraham Lincoln. Above all other national figures, he holds the love of his fellow countrymen. The work which Washington and Jefferson began, he extended to its logical conclusion.” ~President Calvin Coolidge, August 10, 1927 If you follow this blog , you’ll have figured out by now that man-made things are not our interest on this trip. However, the unique combination of nature and humanity in Mount Rushmore turned out to be far more compelling than we had expected. Check out the trees in the photo above to gain a sense of the immensity of these carvings. The pupils of the eyes are made from granite shafts about 20” long and polished smooth to reflect the light. It took incredible skill and techniques like this for Borglum to turn the hard rock of a mountain into such life-like representations of these great men.

In front of a steakhouse in the nearby town of Hermosa stand the busts of three modern presidents: John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and George W. Bush. It may be too soon, but I doubt history will judge these three presidents on the same higher plane as the four on Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore is not without controversy beyond the choice of which Presidents should be honored. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 provided the Lakota tribe with exclusive use of the Black Hills region. But a gold rush in the late 1860s drew a large number of miners and settlers to the region, and by the early 1870s the rush became a flood of prospectors, and the U.S. government was unable keep them all out. Eventually Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area was seized from the Lakota tribe after the Great Sioux War of 1876. The Lakota consider Mount Rushmore to be sacred, and many tribe members consider the carvings to be a desecration. This great country–a beacon of light and hope for the rest of the world–has certainly had its own dark past.

Genocide and displacement of native Americans, slavery, discrimination, and unjust wars are some of the disgraceful chapters in American history. And our current hyper-partisan divided citizenry and special-interest beholden ineffectual Congress don’t exactly inspire confidence in our future. But these four great men carved in the solid granite behind me represent the hope and promise that is America. After visiting the museum, listening to the audio tour, and gazing upon this incredible sculpture, I couldn’t help but feel patriotic pride in the positive things our country has accomplished and the possibility of what good may still come for our nation and the world. If you’re ever feeling down about America, just check out this article: America has made the world freer, safer and wealthier . “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” National Park Service - The Presidents (Mount Rushmore National Memorial) Mount Rushmore National Memorial South Dakota Mount Rushmore National Memorial Pennington County, about 25 miles southwest of Rapid City and 3 miles southwest of Keystone, just off U.S.

16 on Horse Thief Lake Road. Mount Rushmore National Memorial Carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, a sheer peak rising 6,000 feet above sea level in the Black Hills of South Dakota, are the colossal images of four Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. In paying tribute to them, this national memorial also commemorates the growth of the United States through the early part of the 20th century. An incredible engineering feat, the monument was constructed over the course of 14 years at a cost of nearly $1 million. Unique among world sculpture and practically immune to the ravages of time and nature, it also stands as an enduring tribute to the genius of sculptor Gutzon Borglum. The idea of a mountain sculpture in the Black Hills originated with South Dakota historian Doane Robinson, who in 1923 enlisted the support of U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck for such a project. The next year, Robinson acquired the services of sculptor Borglum, who enthusiastically agreed to direct operations. He had been engaged in a similar endeavor at Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, Ga., where he had begun carving a huge Confederate memorial, but the undertaking had failed.

Rejecting Robinson's conception of a monument to prominent western heroes, Borglum envisioned a national memorial on an immense scale. He initially considered carving into a mountainside the images of Presidents Washington and Lincoln complete from the waist up. In 1925 Senator Norbeck succeeded in obtaining the passage of laws by the South Dakota legislature and by the U.S. Congress authorizing the project. The former body, apparently assuming that another peak near Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills was the likely site, also created an administrative unit, the Mount Harney Memorial Association. In August Borglum selected Mount Rushmore, an imposing peak of smooth-grained granite near the town of Keystone. In addition to a picturesque setting, the mount enjoyed the advantage of facing the sun for most of the day, an ideal lighting arrangement. Mount Rushmore National Memorial. (National Park Service, Boucher, 1959.) On October 1 Borglum dedicated Mount Rushmore before a crowd of about 1,000 people. He undoubtedly held the ceremony to stimulate public interest, for almost no construction funds had yet been raised. During the next 2 years, he consumed most of his time raising money in the East and in perfecting his design.

Eventually choosing as his subjects the faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, he believed they would effectively represent not only the westward expansion of the Nation but also its entire history from the time of the American Revolution to his own generation. Meantime, the Mount Harney Memorial Association had managed to acquire some support from Rapid City businessmen, a few State organizations, and a couple of philanthrophists. The funds collected were rapidly exhausted. By 1927 the project seemed to be on the verge of failure. The rededication of the mountain on August 10 of that year by President Coolidge, however, brought wide national press coverage and some new contributions. Nonetheless, after a few months of work, Borglum was forced to cease operations. Aware that more substantial financial support was needed, he appealed to the Federal Government for aid. In February 1929 Congress responded by creating the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission to replace the Mount Harney Memorial Association and by authorizing Federal appropriations up to $250,000, provided they were matched by private subscriptions. About a decade later, the Federal Government assumed complete financial responsibility for the project.

Creation of the memorial required the use of some unique engineering techniques that Borglum had earlier originated at Stone Mountain. After designing a group of figures to conform to the contour of the mountaintop, he made individual plaster models of each of them to serve as guides for his workmen. The models measured 5 feet from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin; 1 foot on a model equaled 12 feet on the mountainside. Sometimes, for measuring purposes, the models were suspended from the mountaintop by cables. All the workers were local men trained by Borglum. Using ladders hewn out of pine trees to climb the mountain, they installed a tramway of cables and winches from its base, where they constructed shelters and storage shacks. An elaborate scaffolding system was devised to accommodate drilling and blasting. Drillers, using jackhammers to drill holes for dynamite, were lowered from the peak to the scaffolds in leather swings by hand-operated winches. Microphones and loudspeakers relayed messages for the lowering and raising of the swings. Surface rock had to be blasted away with dynamite to eliminate deep fissures and cracks until only solid granite remained.

The actual carving involved a tedious cycle of measuring, blasting, drilling, wedging, and smoothing. A blacksmith shop at the base of the mountain serviced the drills, as many as 400 of which needed to be resharpened each day. NPS employee inspecting the face of Abraham Lincoln. National Park Service.) The Washington face was unveiled on July 4, 1930. Jefferson's image proved to be far more difficult. Originally to the north of Washington, in 1933, because of imperfections in the granite, the partially completed figure had to be blasted away and begun anew at a different location. Three years later, on August 29, 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt traveled to Mount Rushmore and dedicated it. The remaining figures, those of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, were dedicated on September 17, 1937, and July 2, 1939. Each head in the group, carved to the scale of a man 465 feet tall, averaged about 60 feet from top to bottom.

Each had a nose 20 feet long, a mouth 18 feet wide, and eyes 11 feet across. But the memorial had not yet reached completion. Besides refinements in the images already carved, Borglum was planning to inscribe a brief history of the United States into the mountain alongside the four figures. Even more fantastic, he had already begun blasting a huge hall of records in the interior of the mountain. The hall was to be a gigantic room filled with busts of individuals representing all phases of U.S. history, bronze and glass cabinets containing historical records carved on aluminum sheets, artifacts of American civilization, and various works of art. Access to the hall was to be via an enormous flight of steps rising 400 feet from a huge granite disk at the base of the mountain. Mount Rushmore in winter. National Park Service.) Borglum's sudden death in March 1941 brought an end to such grandiose schemes. His son Lincoln, who had assisted him for many years, supervised the final work, completed in October. Construction had extended over a period of 14 years, though much of that time the laborers had been idle because of financial difficulties and weather conditions.

The cost had almost reached $1 million. At the base of the mountain lay 450,000 tons of stone rubble, which has never been removed. By 1941 the National Park Service had assumed full responsibility for the memorial. Since that time, it has greatly enhanced administrative and visitor accommodations. Uniformed rangers, informational signs, leaflets, and museum exhibits provide interpretive services. Each evening from June through September a dramatic lighting ceremony is held in the amphitheater. Mount Rushmore | Mount Rushmore Presidents | DK Find Out Mount Rushmore Toggle text Mount Rushmore in South Dakota is a huge monument with four heads of American presidents carved into it. These famous presidents are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Their heads, each about 60ft (18m) high, were carved out of a granite cliff. This project began in 1927, when workers, led by sculptor Gutzon Borglum, used dynamite to blast away rock from the cliff. The use of granite, a tough type of rock, means that these sculptures will probably last for tens of thousands of years.

Mount Rushmore has become a world-famous tourist attraction visited by more than three million people a year. It took 14 years for these giant sculptures to be carved out of Mount Rushmore.

Question: Three of the four presidents carved into Mount Rushmore are Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson. Who is the fourth?
Answer: Roosevelt